Ventilating-flooring for railway-cars



w-. E. VAN DORN. vem'nume momma ron- RAILWAY CARS.

AFPLIfiATION FILED MAR-1, I920- 1,364,660. Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

4 SHEETSSHEET W. E. VAN DORN.

VENTILATING FLOORING FOR RAILWAY CARS- APPLXCATIOH FILED MAR. 1, 1920.

1,664,660. Patented Jan. 4,1921.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2- Z1 2272 255: I Invent 0n W. E. VAN BORN.-

VENTILATING 'FLOORING FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- I 1920.

Patented Jan. 4,1921

4 SHEET$SHEEI 3 fimfemfon APPLICATION FILED-MAR. I 1920.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- UNlTED stares PTENT OFFICE.

VENTILATING-FLOOB-ING FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Application filed March 1, 1920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM E. VAN Donn, a citizen'of the United States, residing at Cambridge, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Ventilating-Flooring for Railway-Cars, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

In Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,169,307 granted January 25, 1916 there is disclosed a sectional ventilating floor which, when not in use, may be stored under the roof of the car. An objection to the particular form of the invention disclosed in said patent is that the floor sections, which are quite heavy, must be bodily lifted to the top of the car when they are to be stored; and, while this is not a difficult matter, workmen have sometimes complained of the eifort involved.

The object of the present invention is to improve the ventilated floor of the aforesaid patent so as to make the task of placing the sections in storage somewhat easier.

The various feaures of novely whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of my invention and of its object and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section through a railway car equipped with my improved ventilating floor, the floor being shown in place on the main car floors;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the floor sections;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical longitudi na-l section through the middle portion of the car, illustrating the process of placing a section under the roof of the car;

Fig. at is an enlarged view of a fragment of the car on the same plane as Fig. 1, showing the parts in the same positions as in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4;, showing the movable track section in its lowered position preparatory to receiving the flooring when it is to be stored;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

Serial No. 362,217.

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a section on an enlarged scale taken approximately on line77 of Fig. 1, the ventilated flooring being shown in full lines resting on the main car floor and in dotted lines in its elevated position; and

Fig. 8 is a section on the same scale as Fig. 7 taken approximately on line 8-8 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, 1 represents a railway car of any usual or suit-able construction having a floor, 2, and a roof'or ceiling, 3; together with the usual side doors midway between the ends, one of the doors being illustrated at 4. The ventilated flooring is made of a series of sections, 5, of a width equal to the width of the interior of the car and of a length somewhat less than the height of the interior of the car; the combined lengths of the sections, of which there are five in the illustration, being equal to the length of the interior of the car. Along each side of the car, below the ceiling or roof, is fixed a track or rail, 6; the tops of the tracks or rails lying below the ceiling or roof a distance preferably slightly greater than the vertical depth or thickness of the ventilated flooring. Each track is divided into three sections, one, of the end sections each being as long as three of the floor sections, the other end section being as long as one of the floor sections, and the middle section having a length equal to one of the floor sections; the end sections being stationary and the middle sections being movable. Each movable track section which I have indicated at 7, is hinged at one end as indicated at 8- and is supported at its other end by a suitable supporting and locking oevice which will permit the latter end to be lowered a short distance or to be swung upwardly and locked so as to bring and hold the movable section into alinement with the stationary sections. In the arrangement shown, there is hung at the adjacent end of one of the stationary track sections a short link,.8, from the free end of which is hung a lever, 9; the lever and the link being connected by a pivot, 10. The free end of the movable track section is connected to the lever by means of a link,

11, pivoted at one end, as at 12, to the movswung upwardly so as to bring its free end underneath the movable track section three track sections are brought into alinement with each other; a suitable locking bolt, 14, being provided on the under side of the movable track section to engage with the free end, 15, of the lever, as shown in Fig. 4, to lock the parts against accidental displacement. lVhen the locking bolt is retracted the movable track section drops down into the position illustrated in Fig. 5.

The pivot pin, 13, between the link, 11, and the lever, 9, serves also as the shaft or axle. of a roller, 16.

The length of each of the ventilating floor sections is such that when the section is stood on end at the lowered end of the two movable track elements, the upper end of the floor section rests against the rollers. As will best be seen in Fig. 2, each floor section has on the upper side, near each side edge, a metal strip, 17, extending lengthwise thereof. Each of these strips has a downward bend near one end so as to form therein a pocket or hook as indicated at 18; these pocket-s or hooks being placed at the corresponding ends of the two strips on each section and being spaced apart such a distance from the opposite end that when one of the floor sections is set on end as indicated in dotted lines at 5 in Fig. 8, the two pockets or hooks receive the two rollers on the lowered track sections; or, if desired. the parts may be so proportioned that the floor section must be lifted slightly in order to bring the rollers into the pockets or hooks, thus insuring that the lower end of the floor section will be entirely clear of the main car floor or any small obstruction thereon. When the parts are proportioned as last described, if the upper edges of the pockets or hooks are so positioned that they will engage the rollers somewhat above the horizontal plane containing the axes. of the latter, a floor section may be raised and at the same time hooked upon the. rollers by simply giving the upper end of the floor section a sharp push which will cause the rollers to turn and roll the section upwardly and in the direction of the length of the car sufliciently to cause the rollers to seat themselves in the pockets or hooks.

lVhen it is desired to store the ventilating flooring in the top of the car, the movable track sections are lowered as illustrated in Fig. 3, the middle section is stood on end and hooked over the rollers as indicated in dotted lines at 5, and it is then swung upwardly to the position shown in full lines so as to bring it approximately parallel with. the movable track sections. The floor section may now be pushed upwardly upon the movable track s.ections,-the strips, 17, serving as tracks or rails riding over the rollers; the dotted line position 5 in Fig. 3 showing the floor section partially pushed back on the movable track sections. After a section of flooring has been laid on the movable track sections, it may be pushed along the same until it is brought upon the stationary track sections at the right hand end of the car as viewed in Figs. 1, 4 and 5. The second section may then be raised and stored in the same way as. the first. When the third section is reached, after it has been placed upon the inclined tracks, the end adjacent to the workmen may be raised so as to bring it upon the stationary track sections at the left of the car as viewed in Figs. 1, 4: and 5, and the entire section is then slid along the stationary track to the end of the car. The fourth section is treated just as the third and, when the fifth section has been placed upon the hinged tracks, the latter are swung upwardly and locked. The hooks or pockets 18 are preferably merged gradually into the main portions of the strips at the inner ends of the hooks or pockets so as to form inclines which will permit the rollers, 16, to ride gradually out of the pockets whenever a section is pushed along the inclined hinged tracks after having been engaged therewith.

It will thus. be seen that the workmen are at no time required to lift the entire weight of a floor section except perhaps for a short distance in order to hook a section upon the rollers. Consequently the sections may be made longer than in the arrangement shown in the aforesaid patent without increasing the weight that has to be lifted by the workmen or, if not made longer, the actual dead weight which the workmen must lift will be much less than in the other arrangement. The greater advantage, however, will prob ably be that resulting from the reduction of the number. of sections which will shorten the time required to load the auxiliary flooring or take it up and store it out of the. way.

In order to facilitate the shifting of the floor sections along the stationary portions of the tracks, the latter may be provided with rollers, 20, placed at intervals along the stationary tracks. and projecting slightly above the upper surfaces of thelatter. With this arrangement, after a section has been lifted it is simply rolled along the tracks to its final resting place.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the terms employed in the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a car, of a sectional flooring adapted to rest upon the main floor of the car, supports arranged at opposite sides of the car just below the top for holding said sectional flooring elevated, said supports including members movable from an inclined position in which they serve as guides or ways along which the sectional flooring may be pushed to positions in which they assist in holding the sectional flooring elevated, rollers on the ends of said movable members, and each section of flooring being long enough to engage with said rollers when it is stood upright in a position adjacent to said movable members.

9-. The combination with a car, of a sectional flooring adapted to rest upon the main floor of the car, supports arranged at opposite sides of the car just below the top for holding said sectional flooring elevated, said supports including members movable from an inclined position in which they serve as guides or ways along which the sectional flooring may be pushed to positions in which they assist in holding the sectional flooring elevated, each of said sections being long enough to engage with the lower ends of said movable members when the latter are in an inclined position and said section stands upright on the floor of the car adjacent thereto.

3. The combination with a car, of a sectional flooring adapted to rest upon the main floor of the car supports arranged at opposite sides of the car just below the top for holding said sectional flooring elevated, said supports including members movable from an inclined position in which they serve as guides or ways along which the sectional flooring may be pushed to positions in which they assist in hold ng the sectional flooring elevated, rollers on and projecting above the ends of said movable members which are lowermost when said members occupy an inclined position, and each of said sections having pockets or recesses in a face thereof adapted to engage with said rollers to form a temporary pivotal connection between one end of the section of flooring and the movable supports while the other end of said section of flooring is raised.

4. The combination with a car, of secional flooring adapted to rest upon the main floor or" the car, supports arranged at opposite sides of the car just below the top for holding said sectional flooring elevated, said supports including members movable from an inclined position in which they serve as guides or ways along which the sectional flooring may be pushed to posiconnection between one end of the section of flooring and the movable supports while the other end of said section of flooring is raised, said recesses or pockets being shaped to permit the rollers to ride out of the pockets when the flooring section is pushed along the movable supports after its lower end has been raised suiiiciently to bring the section approximately parallel with the movable supports.

5. The combination with a car, of a sectional flooring adapted to rest upon the main floor of the car, tracks arranged within the car at opposite sides thereoi in the vicinity of the top, corresponding sections of said tracks being hinged at one end so as to be capable of swinging about a horizonal axis, means for. raising and lowering the other ends of said hinged track members, each section of flooring being sufliciently long to project somewhat above the lower ends of the hinged track sections when the latter are in their lowered positions and the floor section is placed in an upright position on the main floor of the car in the vicinity of said movable track members.

6. The combination with a car, of a sectional flooring adapted to .rest upon the main floor of the car, tracks arranged within the car at opposite sides thereof in the vicinity of the top, corresponding sections of the tracks being hinged at one end so as to be capable of swinging about a horizontal axis, means for raising and lowering the other end of said hinged track members, and rollers arranged on the stationary members of the tracks and also on the hinged members and projecting above the tops thereof so as to form rolling supports for the floor sections and permit the latter to be moved along the tracks with a minimum of effort.

7. A ventilating floor section having on top thereof in the vicinity of the side edges metal straps paralleling said edges and bent downwardly in the vicinity of corresponding ends to form recesses or pockets.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification.

WILLIAM E. VAN DORN. 

